The 2025 WNBA Playoffs began with five UConn women’s basketball alumni competing for a championship, but just two are still standing after the first round concluded Friday night.
Huskies great Napheesa Collier led her Minnesota Lynx to the only sweep in the first round, eliminating the Golden State Valkyries in two games. Collier, who was named one of five finalists for WNBA MVP on Friday, had 20 points shooting 63.6% from the field plus six rebounds playing just 26 in Minnesota’s 101-72 win in Game 1.
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The Lynx completed the sweep with a 75-74 road victory in Game 2, and Collier put up a nearly identical stat line of 24 points on 62.5% shooting plus seven rebounds and four assists. The team trailed by as many as 17 in the second half but mounted a fourth-quarter led by seven points from Collier.
“It was a gritty, gritty win,” Collier said after Game 2 on Wednesday. “I’m just so proud of our effort and the heart that we had when we were in this situation on the road in such a tough environment, down 17. It felt like they were making everything, so to come back, get stops, make hard buckets and do all that, I think it shows the grit and resilience this team has and what we’ve been talking about for two years.”
UConn alums Kaitlyn Chen and Tiffany Hayes ended a historic year with the Valkyries, who became the first expansion team to ever reach the playoffs in their inaugural season. Hayes didn’t appear in the postseason due to a knee injury sustained late in the regular season, and Chen played only in Game 1 logging two points, a rebound and an assist in four minutes.
The 1-seed Lynx advance to face the 4-seed Phoenix Mercury in the semifinals looking to make their second consecutive appearance in the WNBA Finals. Game 1 of the five-game series tips off at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday in Minneapolis.
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The Mercury dethroned the reigning WNBA champion New York Liberty in the first round despite a heroic Game 3 effort from Huskies legend Breanna Stewart. Stewart suffered an MCL sprain during overtime in the first game of the series, though she still recorded 18 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals in New York’s 76-69 win. The veteran superstar didn’t look herself in Game 2 playing just 20 minutes and logging six points in an 86-60 loss, but she was the only reason New York stayed competitive in the elimination matchup Friday night. Stewart finished with 30 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two steals and two block in the Liberty’s 79-73 loss, scoring all 14 of her team’s points in the fourth quarter.
“When I got hurt on Sunday, I couldn’t even walk out of this arena. I was really struggling. I thought I really tore something in my leg, so really grateful for not doing that,” Stewart said after Game 3. “If there was like, a slight chance I could play, I was gonna be out here with my team and making sure that I leave it all on the floor … (I was) trying to be my best and really focusing on giving back rather than focusing on myself and doing whatever I could to keep us in it. It wasn’t enough, so while it might be memorable, it still sucks.”
On the other side of the bracket, former UConn center Kiah Stokes advance to the semifinals with the Las Vegas Aces for the fifth straight season. Stokes only appeared in Game 1 of the Aces’ first round series against the Seattle Storm, which they won 102-77, but Games 2 and 3 both came down to the wire. Storm forward Gabby Williams, who was Stokes’ teammate at UConn from 2014-15, had her best performance of the series in Game 1 with 16 points, three boards, two assists and a steal. The former Huskies star logged six points with two assists in Seattle’s 86-83 Game 2 win, and she added seven points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals in a 74-73 Game 3 loss.
The 2-seed Aces will take on the Indiana Fever in the semifinals after the 6-seed Fever upset the 3-seed Atlanta Dream in the first round. Game 1 tips off Sunday at 3 p.m. ET in Las Vegas.
